THE NEW YORK PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIETY & INSTITUTE:
WORKS IN PROGRESS
247 East 82nd St., between 2nd & 3rd, NY, NY
Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 8:30 p.m.
Professor Simon Critchley
Chair Philosophy Department
The New School
To Philosophize is to Learn How to Die
There are arguably as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers, however, one ancient definition, that begins with Plato’s extensive account of the trial and execution of his teacher Socrates, is that to philosophize is to learn how to die and philosophy is the art of dying, an “ars moriendi”. This talk – which is drawn from the research that led to The Book of Dead Philosophers (Vintage 2009) – will attempt to defend the idea and ideal of the philosophical approach to death in the context of a culture – our culture – which is defined by an overwhelming terror of annihilation and where death is the last great taboo. We will try and look death squarely in the face and assess what possible meaning it might have for the practice of philosophy, psychoanalysis, psychology and psychiatry.
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